Author:Nicholas Blake
A VINTAGE MURDER MYSTERY
The government's security department have asked private detective Nigel Strangeways to keep a discreet eye on Professor Alfred Wagley, a research scientist who is spending the Christmas holidays in the South-West of England. But someone else is also very interested in the professor and his work, and when his young daughter is kidnapped, Nigel finds himself in a race to avert a tragedy.
A Nigel Strangeways murder mystery - the perfect introduction to the most charming and erudite detective in Golden Age crime fiction.
The Nicholas Blake books are something quite by themselves in English detective fiction
—— Elizabeth BowenHis plots are ingenious
—— Times Literary SupplementA master of detective fiction
—— Daily TelegraphA master of detective fiction
—— Daily TelegraphThe Vault, as a sort-of-sequel is a bold attempt to combine Rendell's two chosen specialties: the police procedural and the psychological thriller. No one hides the clues better than her; no one else creates such a pervasive atmosphere of almost comic disgust and dread.
—— Evening Standard